Persona 4: Chaos Ending
by Raidou The 16th
Summary: When the truth becomes lost in the pits of a foggy grave, everything is turned upside down. Angst, losses and deaths slowly consume Yu Narukami's mind, degrading his sanity at a steady pace. Watch as he finds the strength to fight the Prince of Darkness to reach out to the truth. Starting from the first bad ending. R&R, enjoy. *Summary changed*
1. Chaos Route

**Hello guys, welcome to my story. I hope you all enjoy it. Please read and review. I don't own Persona nor it's characters (I wish, though). As you'll see, things are a bit different here. Your opinion is VERY important (I can't stress that enough). That being said, let's get this started**

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- Inaba municipal hospital-

"There's no way I'm forgiving that bastard! He killed three people and now he wants his freedom? No goddamn way I'm leaving this room without bringing justice upon that murderer!" Yosuke said, pure rage flowing through his veins.

"What do you mean by 'justice'? Yosuke, don't tell me..." Chie flinched at the thought. As lame as Yosuke's jokes were, he was always there to drive away the tension of any situation. Even though she herself was the one arguing and having those petty feuds with him, she wouldn't have him anyway else.

She wouldn't love him anyway else.

It seems he never did return the feeling, and that alone hurt a lot, but to see his face like that; to witness bloody murder in his brown eyes... She didn't recognize him anymore. She knew that she had a more important task in her hands, but those were deep feelings that she was dealing with right now.

"Senpai, I know how you feel, but..." Rise expressed her concerns. No, this couldn't be the answer, this wasn't happening... Were they even thinking about doing this? This was just wrong! They had to stop it right now! But when she opened her mouth to speak, Yosuke was already raising his voice again.

"Everybody, listen. This man killed three people. The law can't touch him, because no one would believe in our story. If we leave him be, soon he will start 'saving' people again. It's just wrong, isn't it? I know this is crazy, but it is something only we can do."

"Yosuke-kun, please, listen to reason!" Yukiko begged. Were they really going to do this? Were they really going down to the same level of that murderer?

"Yukiko-san. If this man man gets his freedom and ends up killing another person, will you own the responsibility of letting his free?" Yosuke asks her. Yukiko thinks for a while, but eventually she lowers her head. There has to be another way. She can't do this with her own hands. She just can't.

"*sigh* If any of you doesn't want to take part on this, leave now. I won't hate you for doing so. But then again, I'm not the one in position to say this. But Yu, please, I beg you: stay here. I want to hear your opinion as the leader." The group falls silent, especially Kanji and Naoto, who have been particularly quiet even before they stepped in Namatame's room.

Yukiko looks deep into Yu's eyes. Being his girlfriend, she could hold hours of conversation with him in only a second of eye contact. For the first time, his eyes told her nothing. They just remained there, reflcting her image like a soulless mirror. Eventually, he mouthed 'I need to talk with him'. She nodded slightly and took her leave.

"Yosuke, I..." Chie started, but never finished. Yosuke just stood there, with a stare that pierced her very soul. She didn't know what to do, her mind was a mess. Before she could even think about it, her body was already moving forward... and slapping Yosuke's cheek. While his head was still facing away, Chie just whispered a shy 'I'm sorry'. Yosuke didn't even turn to face her when he said "... just go." She then glanced at Yu's way, and in turn he just nodded, saying 'Do it.' With that, she lowered her head and left.

Kanji was feeling... nothing. He was just empty. The best friends, if not the only ones he had in his entire life, thrown into this situation. He looked at Yu, then at Yosuke, who had already straightened himself, then back at Yu.

" I trust you, man. I know you'll do the right thing" Kanji said to the leader of the group.

"Right now, I don't even know what the right thing is. Sorry, Kanji." Yu responded, hanging his head in shame. Kanji just stared in disbelief. If their fearless leader didn't have the answer, what help would Kanji be of? He just looked away and left.

Naoto's face was indifferent, but inside she deeply hurt. Was this the truth they sought? Did her short journey as a detective lead her to commit such crime for the sake of justice? And Nanako-chan... she was so mature, independent, strong at such young age. She shouldn't have been the one to go. Was it always going to be like this? Was she always going to lose those dear to her, and have to make such difficult decisions? If it was, she didn't want this kind of life anymore. She left.

Rise was in the verge of tears. ' I love you guys soooo much' she said back then, after they rescued her. And now, the fate they saved her from was being wished upon someone else, even if it was upon a murderer. Was this really the right thing to do? Why was Nanako-chan dead, when this... scumbag was still alive? Was it really in their hands to bring this kind of justice? Was it even justice? All those contradicting thoghts were waging war inside her, and her heart was the battlefield. Crying, she left.

Now it was just Yu, Yosuke and Namatame in the room.

"Yu, you know how much this man took from everyone of us. I lost the one I loved, we lost Nanako, and I am sure someone cared enough about Yamano to be grieving upon her death, even to this day. As I said earlier, the law can't touch him, because even if we told the police what happened, they would never believe us. So it's simple: we push him into the TV and it's all over. You are the leader, I'll follow whatever you decide to do. So, what will you do?" Yu looks at Namatame, who was nearly digging a hole in the ground with his fingernails, his bloodshot eyes were staring at the floor and his teeth were clenched together. Then Yu turned his eyes back to Yosuke, whose face was sober. It seemed he had no doubts in his mind.

Yu took some time to think about everyone: Yukiko, Chie, Kanji, Rise, Teddie (who they hadn't seen since they left Nanako's room), Naoto, his uncle Dojima, Nanako, even the Velvet Room's inhabitants. This was a tough decision. In fact, 'tough' was a huge understatement. This was going to change his life, to stain his hands, forever. Time seemed to stop as those million toughts were rushing through his mind. This was wrong, but what Namatame did was on another level. Even Dojima was willing to go that far. Yu closed in on Namatame, kneeled to his eye level, grabbed him by the collar, and, blank faced, stared into Namatame's eyes. They told him of despair, angst, fear, discontentment and remorse. Yu kept staring for long fifteen seconds, as Yosuke watched idly by.

Then, at 11:58 pm, the rain stopped. Yu made his decision.

"We need to break his legs first."

"I knew you'd make the right choice, partner"

And then the deed was done. By throwing this man into the abyss that would lead him to his death, they had avenged all the lives that this man had taken. After that, they left before the guards came back, and tried to go to Dojima's room, but visitation time had long since past. Silently, they walked together until the time had come to part ways to their houses.

No one in the group, except for Naoto, managed to sleep that night.

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**Pretty short chapter for a start. I thank TheDarkNightSky for the support. See you guys next chapter.**


	2. The Spark

**A/N: Hello guys. Wlecome to another chapter. Now, I'd like to answer the reviews:**

**TheDarkNightSky: Thanks, thanks, and thanks. I really appreciate it. I'll try my best.**

**Thedarknesswithin96: That's somewhat the intention of this fic: to make things a little darker. Glad to see that you enjoyed it.**

**Nightail: As you see, this is NOT a one shot. Thanks for the compliments, anyway.**

**I do NOT own Persona. Your opinion is Very important. Things will start to get different in this chapter. That being said, let's get this started.**

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Yu got up early in the in the morning. He couldn't bring himself to close his eyes after what happened yesterday. Although it was saturday, he wasn't planning on going to school today. He couldn't even eat breakfast. He just just sat on the couch and.. cried. Cried upon the loss of his beloved cousin, upon what he did, everything, everyone. He didn't even know what time it was when his cell phone rang. He cleared his throat and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's Yosuke. So, you didn't go to school too, huh.

"Yeah. Did the others go?"

"Strangely enough, Chie of all people was asking me if I was going. I thought she was mad at me, but apparently not. Apparently. That aside, you wanna hang out today? I wanna talk about yesterday, maybe clear my mind of all that, if that's even possible."

"Okay, sure."

"Yu?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"... No"

"Me neither."

Silence

"*sigh* See you later, Yosuke."

"Meet me at the riverbed at one pm."

"Okay" Yu hung up. Yosuke seemed pretty sober over the phone. But then again... you know what? Screw it. He wasn't going to put much thought into it. After that, he went to wash his tear stained face and ate whatever he could for lunch.

-Later, at the riverbed-

Yosuke was waiting there, sat on the bench with his pack by his side.

"Yo" Yosuke greeted while Yu silently took his seat.

"Look what I've got." Yosuke grabbed a bottle of sake and two glasses from his pack.

"Whare'd get t- you know what, just pour me a glass already." Yosuke did just that, and then proceeded to fill his own glass.

"Ack, this tastes awful." Yu said as he reached half of the contents of his glass, and then quicly downed the rest, only to contort himself a little with the heat that the drik brought upon his chest.

"Hey, Yu... didja hear already?" Yosuke asked, the slightest hint of regret of even starting to break this information to his partner.

"What?"

Yosuke hesitated. He fidgeted a bit, but finally decided to spill the beans.

"They found Naoto dead at the Shirogane state this morning. Word is, she killed herself."

"FUCK!" Yu shot up to his feet, and out of rage tried to kick the bench, but ended up hitting his shin. Hard.

"Shit! Why?!" He grabbed Yosuke by the collar. "WHY?!"

"... it's not my fault..."

"IT IS!"

"Then it is yours, too."

Yu's rage slowly subsided and he finally let go of Yosuke.

"Dammit, why? We did the right thing, didn't we? Why'd she have to do that?

"Maybe she couldn't take it. What we did was heavy. Very heavy. I just didn't think she'd go that far." Yosuke stated, almost matter-of-factly.

"And why are you so goddamn calm? Huh?" Yu nearly spat the question.

"Do you know how destroyed I am?" Yosuke snapped. He broke the bottle, got up and pointed it's remains at Yu's face. "Do you have any idea of how much I cried today, even before I heard those news? Rise was the one who came knocking at my door to tell me. At the time I couldn't even cry. And I tried! She got angry, and then beat the shit out of me because of that!" Yosuke forcefully tug his his headphones away from his neck using his free hand, revealing several scratch marks. Some of them were still red. "I don't have any more tears in me. So, if you wanna face me about it, I'm warning ya: you are NOT a girl. I'll prove you just how sad I am." His voice was rhaspy, but not with anger. Instead, it was full of angst. Yu was about to move the bottle away from his face and shove his fist down Yosuke's throat, but then thought '...this is just going to make things worse.' He then let out a heavy sigh and sunk back in the bench.

"I'm sorry, man." Yu apologized, running his hands on his face. Yosuke lowered his head and shrugged.

"It's alright" He dropped the broken bottle to his side and sat back on the bench. With that, they stayed quiet for a while. Until a blond man using a cap and carrying a man-purse decided to descend the stairs to the riverbed.

"Hey, can I sit there?" The man asked from a far.

"Shit. Yosuke, hide the bottle away!" Yu hissed. Yosuke was about to hastily do so when the man interrupted.

"No, no. It's alright. No need to hide it. In fact..." He took a bottle of a western wine out his purse.

"If you don't mind, would you care to drink a little more with me?" The man seemed kind enough. They agreed to let him sit with them, Yosuke quickly dropped his own pack to the side.

"Can I ask you your names?" The man broke the ice.

"Name's Yu. This here is Yosuke." Yu introduced them both. The man quickly popped another question.

"What were you guys drinking about? It doesn't seem like you were doing it for fun."

"What's it to you?" Yosuke quickly retorted.

"I'm pretty much doing the same, so I'm interested" The man asked again, already sipping his second glass of wine.

"Why don't you tell us your story first, then?" Yu asked.

"Hm. Fair enough. You see, my father owns a really big company, so he wanted me and my younger brother to take part in the family's business. My brother accepted it without a problem, but I've always had plans to live a life of my own, so I refused. My father got really angry. He kicked me out of the house right there and then. That hit me the wrong way, 'cause he was always so kind... it kinda tore me up inside. I had to live at a friend's house until I got things covered up, which didn't take too long. Soon, I managed to get an apartment, a car, and even got to open my own shop. At first I was proud of it, but then" He chugged directly from the bottle " my old man started to bug me about it like, everyday. We even argued directly once, but he put me back in my place. Apparently, my brother did something big, and now my father if always trying to find any and every possible way to rub in my face that my brother is better than me, and whatnot. To take a break from all this, I left the shop to my friend's care, and went on a little vacation. So, here I am."

"Hm. Interesting, but our story's on a whole 'nother level. it's way heavier than yours." Yosuke warned. His story was cool and all, but theirs... theirs was a story of justice, vengeance, regret, and a whole bunch of other feelings.

"So tell me, please."

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" It was Yu's turn to ask. Despite the concern that Yu's words expressed, the tone he used managed to pass the message across as a threat of sorts...

"Wouldn't have told mine if I didn't." ... which went right over the man's head.

Yu sized the man up from head to toe. His speech didn't show it, but he was actually pretty drunk. His head was even swaying a little from side to side. Then Yu looked at the bottle of wine... and it was nearly empty. Dammit, they didn't even get to drink a little of that. 'Meh, why not. He'll forget it in the morning.' Yu thought.

"Okay, but promise you won't tell anyone."

"You've got my word."

"You see, in this town, for people died. One of them was the girl that Yosuke liked, and my little cousin was a victim, too." Yu started. Yosuke was still giving the man the stinker eye, but he was going to roll with it for now.

"Me, Yosuke here, and some other friends were the only ones who could figure out who was the culprit behind those deaths."

"Why?"

"Because the police wouldn't believe the whole story, and neither will you."

"Oh... but please, continue." 'Is this man for real?' Yu thought.

"*sigh*... So, after months of investigation, when my cousin was the one being targeted and kidnapped, we managed to corner the the culprit. We fought, and both him and my cousin were sent to the hospital, but..." Yu sniffed slighly. "... after a while, she didn't resist. We found out that the culprit was in the same hospital. We went to find out where his room was, only to find the door unguarded. This was our only chance, so... we entered and killed him."

"... Oh"

"Even now we question ourselves if it was the right thing to do. One of our friends apparently couldn't live with the burden, and *deep breath*... commited suicide. Now, we're here, trying to drink away at our sorrows and losses."

Some seconds of silence followed that. Eventually, the man chugged down the rest of the wine.

"... I think you did the right thing."

Both teens looked at the man, in shock.

"You remained true to yourselves, and averted a possibly great danger, but..." Pause. The man closed his blue eyes, and when he opened them again, his left eye turned red.

"... you missed something"

As he got up to leave, he looked completely sober. Yu and Yosuke quickly got up and blocked his way.

"I knew we couldn't trust you!" Yosuke saide, taking an aggressive stance.

"You haven't told us your name yet. Who are you?" Yu barked the question.

"*chuckle* That's right, I never really introduce myself, did I?" He asked, and then started to casually walk towards Yosuke. As the boy readied a wild swing, the man vanished, and immediately appeared behind Yosuke with his back turned.

"My name is Louis Cyphre. Let's just leave it at that." With that, he climbed up the stairs out of the river bed, and when he got to the last step, he completely disappeared. They ran towards the spot where the man had once been, and found two business cards. One directed at Yu, and other at Yosuke. For a few seconds, they remained silent.

"Yosuke?"

"What?"

"It's not over yet."

"Yeah, I know. But we'll get to the bottom of this, right?"

"I sure do hope so."

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**I told you that things would start to get different. Anyway, thanks for reading the chapter. Please, feel free to review. See you guys next chapter.**


	3. Twist of Fate: Fortune

**Hello again, and welcome to another chapter. This one is like an outtake, but it actually matters. If you guys agree, I would like to make another one, which will lead into something rather big, so please leave your opinions as a review. Speaking of reviews, time to answer them.**

**Rienfleche: Thanks... I guess. Hope you like this chapter.**

**Thedarknesswithin96: Thanks. You may find this chapter to be interesting as well.**

**TheDarkNightSky: Oh lol, you thought that was funny? Yeah, bitter and broken may be a bit different, but I think it fits them, alright.**

**I don't own persona, smt, or nothing. Now that that's out of the way, let's get this started**

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Naoto's face was indifferent, but inside she deeply hurt. Was this the truth they sought? Did her short journey as a detective lead her to commit such crime for the sake of justice? And Nanako-chan... she was so mature, independent, strong at such young age. She shouldn't have been the one to go. Was it always going to be like this? Was she always going to lose those dear to her, and have to make such difficult decisions? If it was, she didn't want this life anymore. She walked out of the room without saying a word.

But stopped as soon as she closed the door behind her. Maybe all was not lost. She haven't made up her mind entirely, but suddenly, she felt like she could trust that Yu was going to do the right thing, whatever the right thing was to be.

Then she heard Rise crying, and the sound was getting closer. Naoto then proceeded to hide in the adjacent corridor. She poked her head out of her hiding spot to see Rise running while wiping her tears. After she made sure that Rise wasn't going to see her, she quickly got out of her cover and stood closer to the door, so that she could hear what was going on in the room. She heard Yosuke saying:

"Yu, we are the ones who lost the most to this man. I lost the one I loved, we lost Nanako, and I am sure someone cared enough about Yamano to be grieving upon her death, even to this day. As I said earlier, the law can't touch him, because even if we told the police what happened, they would never believe us." Yes, it was true that the police couldn't do anything. She was one of the people who could attest to that fact. Hell, the police was nearly discarding as a suspect now, because they couldn't get anything 'straight' out of him. Yosuke spoke again:

"So it's simple: we push him into the TV, and it's all over" Yosuke's words managed to strike fear on her. Even though he was not screaming, and even though she was still in the outside of the room, his tone passed all of his negative feelings across. But at the same time, his choice of words clicked something inside her. Something was not right here, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. One thing was certain though:

They were missing something.

"You're the leader, I'll follow whatever you decide to do. So, what'll it be?" After that, there was silence. Inside the room, Yu was thinking on what to do. Naoto was trying to figure out what was it they were missing. Yu kneeled down to Namatame's eye level. Naoto was asking herself why was Namatame so shaken? Shouldn't he be relieved that he succeeded in 'saving' Nanako-chan? There was still silence. In fact, when they faced Namatame in the TV world, He said 'You are the ones I saved'. If salvation was death, shouldn't he have failed to save the ones he kidnapped? She heard Namatame yelp from inside the room, then nothing else. Now she's lost all her faith in Yu. It was all on her. She had to figure this out quickly, before Yosuke and Yu decide to go through with Yosuke's plan.

If Namatame did not see death as salvation, why would he kill the one he loved? It made no sense. As for the second victim, Saki Konishi, if he tried to save her and failed, he was likely to never use the TV again. Unless...

Unless someone else killed the first victims, then Namatame started to use the TV to save the ones he kidnapped. Since they always got out safely, he never stopped throwing people in the TV world, believing that he himself saved them. Yes! That was it. Joy, hope and confidence were starting to fill her thoughts. Now, if she could just find an argument to convince Yu and Yosu-

"We need to break his legs first"

"I knew you'd make the right choice, partner."

Naoto froze, dumbfounded. She completely forgot that she was running out of time. The muffled screams coming from the other side of the door only served to deepen her state of shock. And the distinctive sound of the portal to the TV world being crossed made her knees wobble. She... failed. After some seconds, she heard footsteps coming from iside the room, waking her up from her daze, if only for a brief moment. She quickly hid in the same spot that she used earlier and waited for Yu and Yosuke to go away. After that, she walked silently out of the hospital, down the streets and to her house, the Shirogane State, her head lowered and her eyes wet all the way. She went upstairs to her room and cried all the tears she's been holding. Why was she crying, not even she herself could answer. Maybe because of everything. Too many choices, too much pressure, too many deaths. After an hour or so, she stopped crying. Not even her tears could drive her to sleep. She began thinking: why was she a detective? All years looking up to those 'cool' guys that solved every kind of crime, all the time spent on reading novels and watching movies, all the time spent on learning how to act and behave like a detective, the realization that made her dress like a man, the strenght to carry on after the adults treated her like a child, the strange murder case that suddenly popped on her desk one day, the shadow she conquered, the friends she made...

The people she let die.

She didn't get it. She had the wisdom, the wits, the knowledge, even the guts, but she still let innocent people die. In fact, she even put her friends in trouble, all because she wanted to prove her deductions and theories. Because she tried to reason with Namatame back in the TV world, Nanako stayed there more time than she should have. Because she didn't come up with an argument in time, Namatame died before she could get anything out of him. Maybe she should have just barged in the hospital room to stop Yu and Yosuke. Maybe she herself should have been the one to tackle Namatame when they were rescuing Nanako. But alas, she couldn't. She could only try to use reason because she was too uncertain, too afraid of what would happen if she didn't. Try to use reason was the only thing she could do, she was the wisdom of the team, but in the end, all of that was useless. Then it hit her:

She herself was useless.

She was nothing but a burden, now that she thought about it. The team would be better off without her. She felt like she was just a waste of space. All her lifetime she aimed to become something, and when she finally did, she was useless, worthless. The strings in her heart were being pulled apart by each thought that crossed her mind, untill she whispered the word 'worthless'. Her mind went blank and her heart stopped for a moment. She took the revolver out of her pocket. She stared at it for some long seconds before recalling what she thought earlier.

'She was useless'

'She was worthless'

She pulled the trigger.

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**Depressing, much? Please review, and leave your opinion on this chpater. Should I do another one of those, or not? It's up to you. If you do think that I should make another of this, brace yourselves for something quite unexpected. Anyway, see you guys next chapter.**


	4. The Fate's Gamble

**Hello again, guys. Welcome to another chapter. This follows the same day that chapter two left at. Now, to answer the reviews.**

**Thedarknesswithin96: Yeah, I'll do another one of those. Just wait**

**TheDarkNightSky: I enjoy doing those dark moments. I don't know why, though.**

**I don't own anything. Now that that's out of the way, let's get this started.**

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After asking around for information about that mysterious man named Louis, they only found out that he probably wasn't from Inaba, and Yu already knew was getting late, so he decided to go home after parting ways with Yosuke.

As Yu took off his shoes to enter the house, his cell phone vibrated. It was a message from Yukiko, saying that Naoto was dead. It was as if the gods were trying to stick salt in his wounds. He replied 'I already know. Yosuke told me.' He was about to shove his phone back in his pocket, when another message came. Yukiko had replied 'Huh? How did he know he know? Me and Chie told everyone to hold that from you two.'

'Rise told him. He said it was a little after lunchtime'

'Oh, that's why we didn't see her after school.'

'Yukiko,' Yu began typing. He was planning on scolding her about hiding that from him, but he thought of what happened this afternoon. It just wasn't worth it.

'Yukiko, thanks for the concern' He sent the message and threw his phone to the other side of the couch where he was sat, not caring about what answer he might get. Some seconds later, his phone vibrated again, but he ignored it. Then, he decided to take a shower and get ready for bed

Before he slept, he analysed the business card once was red, with golden letters. In the front, there were two letters: F and G. Under that, there was a space where the phone number should have been. On the other side there was the name Louis Cyphre, which was above Yu's name in smaller letters. It looked more an invitation, really. Yu put it under his pillow and went to sleep.

What he did not notice, was that the card started to shine brightly under his pillow.

Yu opened his eyes, ready to be greeted by the sight of the Velvet Room, but instead he found himself in a completely different space. The floor was made of black and white marble tiles, with golden lines in between them. There was a bar in the back, with bottles and glasses of all sizes, collors and shapes. There was a man using a fedora tending to the bar and skillfully juggling three bottles at the same time. Suddenly, a sweet guitar tone started playing. Yu looked towards the source of the sound, and there was a dark skinned man using a sleeveless grey open jacket, which showed his rather muscular arms. His hands had some kind of tribal white painting, and he was using pants and boots that perfectly suited his legs. He seemed to have long red dreds that most likely reached his back. He also seemed to be very into what he was doing, not raising his head once. He was playing a guitar with a jet black body with a strange mark on it. It's neck was silver, and each tunning peg had the form of a wolf's head. Right in front of Yu there was a poker table, across which sat Louis. Yu looked to his left, and saw a beautiful blond woman with pigtails and clear yellow eyes, but she didn't seem like a shadow, neither was she going to , when he looked to his right he saw... Yosuke?! Louis finally spoke up.

"Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world"

"Why should we NOT be alarmed? Where are we? What's this place?" Yosuke asked, panicked as all hell.

"Beacause I don't mean you any harm." Louis stated on a reassuring tone, but it wasn't very effective.

"What exactly are you?" Yu asked, while Yosuke was sweating buckets.

"This is the Fate's Gamble. This is a place where only strong existences may enter. They come to watch the reality of the worlds. You, as a Wild Card, even if almost Fallen, fit that description."

"Strong existences, huh?" Yosuke smirked. His mood suddenly brightened by this information.

"Allow me to correct myself. Only strong existences and special guests may enter."

"Special guests?" Yosuke's excitement died a little.

"Yes. One day I'll explain it to you."

"So, I'm not some strong existence?"

"...No. Just a common persona-user."

"Oh, man..." Yosuke pouted.

"*ahem* My question hasn't been answered yet. What are you." Yu reciprocated in a demanding tone.

"*sigh* Impatient, are we not? I, am Lucifer. Satisfied now?"

"WHAT?!" Yu and Yosuke said in unision.

"Yeah, you heard right. The woman you see here is Catherine. She's a special succubus."

"Hello, sweeties!"

"That in the bar is Astaroth. He's my right hand man." Louis motioned as if to give the bartender a cue, but the man remained quiet.

"Uhhh... He's a man of few words. The one playing guitar is Lupa. He's here because he's interested in you guys' journey. He won't be staying for long, though."

Lupa raised his head, and finally his silver eyes, the white paintings on his face, and his goatee were visible. He had a stern expression on his face. Also, he was wearing a strange necklace, but Yu couldn't make much detail out of it. Lupa just let out a 'hmph' and went back to what he was doing.

"Dat guitar!" Yosuke gawked.

"Yes, it is indeed beautiful." Lucifer added.

"Yeah, okay, sure. Now, what are we doing here?" Yu asked.

"Oh, pardon my negligence. I have summoned you here to tell you some truths."

"Oh yeah, about what?" It was Yosuke's turn to ask.

"About your journey. For you see, it is not over yet. You have missed a crucial point, which lead you to the end that you two chose to bring about."

"What information is that?"

"That, I cannot tell."

"You called us here, to tells about something that you can't tell?" Yu was becoming impatient.

"Calm down, I wasn't finished yet. That info, is the truthabout the case that you have been investigating. I can't tell you that right away, because I have yet to know if you are worthy of the truth."

"Huh? Worthy? We've spent months trying to get to the bottom of this, only for you to say that we're not 'worthy' of the truth?" Yosuke was the one to snap now.

"What I am saying, is that this truth might lead you to a very severe truth may cost you your lives. So, I took it upon me the duty of preparing you."

"So what do you want us to do, o Obi Wan?" Yosuke asked sarcastically.

"I want you two to fight me."

Yu had asked for a drink a while back, and now he was doing a spit take.

"We, fight YOU? We'll die, you know."

"Have you ever stopped to consider the power you hold? You have the Wild Card, your potential knows no limits. It can, thus, fight every knid of power in existence. Nothing is beyond it's grasp. The only thing that limits its power, is the holder himself. I'm sure Igor already told you that."

"You know Igor?" Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. We have met in several ocasions. You draw your strenght from bonds, from others. A Wild Card becomes Fallen when it severs all of it's bonds, and forgets the fact that his power , in fact, comes from himself. You only have one bond left untouched: the magician. Only one Wild Card have fallen. His soul drifts in nothingness, devoid of Karma. He does not come, he does not go, he does not exist.. You do have the power to fight me, or anything that crosses your path, but you need to realize the strenght of your bonds that you have forged. That is why I'll test you: to see if you can stand against what awaits you at the end of your path." Louis explained. Yosuke looked sad for some reason.

"So, you want us to fight you, to prove that we are ready for whatever comes our way?" Yu confirmed the facts.

"Whare does Yosuke come in all this?"

"No, don't. I don't wanna know. I'm in, I'll fight with you, Yu." Yosuke interrupted Yu. He still seemed down.

"Do you take my challenge? There's no need to worry about dying." Lucifer asked.

"When will it be?"

"Whenever you feel ready."

"Okay, we're game. We have no way of knowingwhat you're hiding otherwise. We'll let you know when we're ready."

"Splendid choice." Lucifer rejoiced.

"But why are you helping us?" Yu asked.

"You think that just because I'm Lucifer, I can't do good things?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Enough for now. I've opened doors to this place in your world, so that you can come here whenever you want. Time marches on in your world. Take care."

"Wait, I wasn't done" Yu's consciousness started to drift away, slowly taking him back to reality. He could already hear the alarm ringing. Soon, both of them are gone.

"Are you sure they will be able to serve their purpose?" Catherine asked.

"Why, of course. Or else, they wouldn't have been called here."

'They have to, or else, a world f order will be upon humanity. A world of order which I myself am unable to prevent.'

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**I think this isn't as good of a chapter as the other three, but please, review and leave your opinion. It means a lot. See you guys next chapter.**


	5. The Answers

**Hello again, and welcome to another chapter. I apologize for the lack of quality of the last chapter. I really didn't put enough effort in it's making. I'll end up fixing it someday, but not right now. Call me lazy. Now, to answer the reviews.**

**ThedarkNightSky: Thanks. Oddly enough, I wasn't intending on making any kind of humor, but hey, I take what I can get.**

**Thedarknesswithin96: Again, I apologize for the lack of effort put in last chapter. But I'm glad that you are enjoying it.**

**Rienfleche: No Thomas Mutton for you. No, seriously, he won't appear in this fic. Thanks for the suport, though (I guess...)**

**Also, I'd like to thank both Miss Hanamura and the guest who also reviewed. As always, I don't own anything. Now, let's get this started**

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Another boring day at school was over for Yosuke. The tension between the team was still very much present. They barely talked to each other. Yosuke was still thinking about yesterday, Lucifer challenging him and Yu to a battle and whatnot. It was too much to handle. Hell, he was still thinking about Namatame. All of that was like a storm in his head. He needed a break. All the tension aside, Lucifer seemed to be a pretty cool guy. The dude juggling the bottles was pretty awesome too. Now that he thinks about it, Catherine was crazy hot, and that Lupa dude was badass. That was a very interesting place. Lucifer said that he opened doors to that place in the real world, right? Maybe Yosuke could pay them a visit. If only he could find the door...

Then he recalled that Junes was having a big sale in the grocery department today. He grabbed his things and hurried there. He quickly put on his apron and started stocking the shelves. Until he heard an announcement.

"Employee Yosuke Hanamura: please report to the staff room." The announcement ended. Right about now, the part-timers would be all like 'Guess who screwed up again?', but apparently not this time. Yosuke shrugged and made his way to the staff room.

Strangely enough, there was no one there. This was starting to look like a prank. He was ready to bust out of the door to yell at whoever was doing this, until a blinding red light started to fill the room. Yosuke covered his eyes, and when the light died down, there was a strange red door in the corner of the room. If Yosuke had any idea of where it might lead, it was now confirmed by the 'business card' shining brightly in his pocket. Next thing he knew, he was already sat on his chair at the Fate's Gamble.

"Welcome to the Fate's Gamble." Lucifer greeted.

"Hey, there." Catherine greeted, too.

"Finally, I was looking for you guys. First things first: how can I get something to drink?"

"Oh, uhh... Astaroth, if you'd please." Lucifer called

"I'd like a-" Yosuke was suddenly interrupted by Astaroth suddenly appearing right behind Yosuke, handing him a glass and making Yosuke jump a little. Eventually, Yosuke took the glass and Astaroth ' teleported' back to the bar. Yosuke stared at the blue liquid inside his glass.

"Hey, can I call you Louis?"

"Go right ahead."

"Do you have any idea of what this is?"

"No. Astaroth never told me what are those drinks. But I am sure that it is non-alcoholic."

"Hm." Yosuke downed the contents of his glass. It was sweet, but not so much to the point of being a simple fruit juice. As for the actual taste, it was something that Yosuke had never tasted before. It wasn't strawberry, nor apple, nor anything. It was simply unique.

"That... was awesome. Thanks." Yosuke shouted to the hat-wearing bartender, but Astaroth just grunted and went back to what he was doing.

"*sigh* I guess he means to say 'You're welcome'." Louis said.

"Why's he always like that?"

"I am not certain. He has been like that since he met THAT caped teenager." Louis stated.

"O...kay. Now, could you answer some questions?" Yosuke asked. Caped teenager, though? Really? Who the hell uses a cape?

"Why, of course."

"Why did you summon me here? What I mean is: wasn't it supposed to be just Yu, because of that Wild Card thing?"

"This, can take a rather long time to explain. Good thing that time means little here, if compared to your world. Sure, I will tell you, but would you happen to know how to play 'blackjack', by any chance? We could play while we talk." Louis asked.

"Hmmmmm... I don't know. What are we going to bet?"

"Nothing. At least not today. This will be just a test for our luck."

"Whew. Fair anough. I was broke until my next paycheck." Yosuke stated. For some odd reason, he felt like he was going to lose all his money if he was to bet anything.

"Catherine, if you'd please." Louis asked. Catherine started to magically shuffle the deck, doing all kind of sleights of hand and whatnot. This went on for a while, until she decided to deal the cards. She was kind of far from Yosuke's seat, so she had to stretch a bit to deal his cards. This, along with her rather revealing clothes, gave a bit of an emphasis to her, uh... rich cleavage. And the pose that she was doing was rather seductive...

Yosuke suddenly felt the need to cross his legs.

Catherine saw this and giggled lightly. Oh, she was going to love teasing Yosuke. She dealed Louis' cards and let the rest of the deck on the table.

"Simple rules, since there are no bets. Draw until you are done, then I try to best your hand. Sounds fair?"

"Yep. I suppose I start?" Yosuke asked.

"Go ahead." Louis agreed. Yosuke had a jack of clubs and a seven of hearts. He was feeling pushy today, so he decided to draw. A two of spades. He showed his cards.

"Nineteen, I'm done. You can start explaining now." Yosuke passed his turn.

"Louis laid his cards on the table: a ten and a two, both of clubs.

"Yosuke, every man has desires. Some can suppress them, some cannot. In some ways, desire is what makes you human. I am sure that you recall what you did in the hospital room not long ago. If you think about it, everyone had the same desire, though you were the only one who did not hide it by desperately thinking of another answer. That, in my vision, makes you more human, even if you chose the wrong answer, because you remained true to yourself. That is one of the rasons why I chose you." Louis drew a card... a nine of hearts. "Twenty-one. Looks like I win."

"Dammit. Rematch!" Yosuke yelled. He was sure that Louis was using some kind of magic trick. Catherine got closer to Yosuke this time. She picked the deck, shuffled it again, and this time, she had to deal Louis his cards, giving Yosuke a whole new point of view of her image (Yosuke was staring at her butt, if you don't get the hints).

"Do you like what you see?" Catherine asked in an alluring, yet almost condescending tone. This woke Yosuke from his daze, but he still couldn't tear his eyes away form where they were now.

"I-I'm not staring!" Yosuke blurted out, his cheeks bright red. Catherine giggled again and went back to her place.

"Umm... Oh, right. What were the other reasons?" Yosuke asked, then looked at his cards: A three of diamonds and a four of hearts.

"First, you answer me this: do you feel that you are 'inferior' to your friend Yu?"

"Huh? I, uh..." Yosuke trailed off. This was a difficult subject for him. Of course Yu was better than him. He could change personas, all the girls loved him, he aced every test... he was perfect. Something that Yosuke couldn't even hope to be. Hell, Yosuke never even had a girlfriend that liked him.

"There is no need to lie, Yosuke." Louis persuaded.

"... Yeah, I think that he's better than me. At first, when I got this power, I thought that we would be heroes. But then, as time passed, the spotlight would always be on him, and I'd be left in the dark. Sure, he is a great friend, maybe the best I'd ever had, but it still hurts to be always under his shadow." Yosuke stopped to wallow in his own thoughts for some second, but quickly came back.

"Why do you ask?"

"What if I told that Yu is the one who needs you?"

"Huh?"

"Remember when I explained Yu's power?"

"Oh, that 'infinite potential' thing. What about it?"

"His power draws strenght from bonds. If he loses all his bonds, his power will mean nothing, and he will become Fallen. I believe that those bonds are called 'social links', if I remember correctly. When those bonds grow stronger, so does his ability to create new personas."

"So, he uses his friends, just to get more power?"

"Yes, he does that with many people, but some of those links are held very dearly by him. His girlfriend's, the people on the team, and specially yours, Yosuke. He treasures your friendship the most."

"Oh, really?" Yosuke was a bit surprised.

"And not only that: yours is the only 'social link' that he has left. He strongly believes that he betrayed everyone when you two ended Namatame's life."

"So, if I was to turn my back on him, he would have been..."

"Exactly. He depends on you. Wheter that makes you think that you are his equal, is up to you. If not, then get equal with him."

"How?"

"I am sure that you will think of something. Those are the reasons why I chose you. Now, shall we finish this game?"

"Oh, sure." Yosuke looked at his cards again, and then drew a card: a king of clubs. Now, he had seventeen. Yu depends on him, huh? Maybe Yu's not the untouchable person that Yosuke thought he was. Hmmm. Untouchable. Yosuke just got an idea. It might get him a black eye or two, but it was sure the two of them closer. Yosuke drew another card: a three of hearts.

"Twenty. I'm done."

Louis bit his bottom lip. He had a queen of spades and a six of clubs. He drew a card... an eight of diamonds.

"Drat. I busted."

"Yesss. In your face! Wait, did I seriously just win a game of cards against Lucifer?"

"*chuckle*. Indeed. You won."

"Yosuke started prancing around. After all, it's not every day that you beat Lucifer in a game of cards. Or in anything, really.

"Congrats, Yosuke!" Catherine decided to hug Yosuke during his little victory dance. He was so caught in the moment that...

"Three, two, one..." Catherine counted... He didn't even realize what was pressing aginst his chest. When Yosuke came to, and looked at what he was doing, he let out a little scream and hurriedly broke away from the hug. Now, he was red as a tomato.

"Ummm... I gotta go home. T-thanks Louis, see ya guys." Yosuke hurried to the exit.

"Hahaha. That was priceless. Why do you have to tease the kid so much?" Louis laughed. Catherine was also laughing out loud. Even Lupa was hiding a smirk.

-Junes, staff room-

Yosuke barged out of the red door. He checked his watch, and it was still 4:30 pm. Maybe time really flows differently in that room. Damn that Catherine. Always teasing and embarassing him. That aside, Louis actually gave him a great piece of advice. Now he knew what to do.

Yosuke was going to settle the score with Yu, once and for all.

For now though, he had shelves to re-stock.

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**And thus, another chapter ends. Please, read and review. Your opinion is very much valued by me. Also, shout out to Rienfleche. This chapter wouldn't be funny (or at least I tried to make it funny) without your review. See you guys next chapter.**


	6. Blood, sweat, and two tears

**Hello guys, and welcome to another chapter. I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I had an unnecessarily long and busy week, then after that, I had the worst lack of inspiration. Since I took so long to to update this, I present you with a long chapter. Now, reviews.**

**Thedarknesswithin96: Thanks again. Glad that you're liking the story. In this chapter, there are even more 'Yosuke...' moments.**

**Nightlypresence: This is not the battle you were waiting for, but still, I put a lot of thought in this chapter. Thanks.**

**Hoshiro Kamui: Wow... An real review. Thanks a lot, miss (mwahahahaha). *ahem*. I tried my best to correct my mistakes. Hope you like the chapter.**

**I don't own persona, shin megami tensei, or anything. Sega does now, apperently. Now that's out of the way, let's FANALEH get this started.**

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Yosuke woke up to the sound of his alarm ringing for the fifth time. He had to get up quickly and dress himself in less than five minutes if he wanted to catch the first period. And so he did, running all the way to the school gates. On the way to the classroom, he sped through the hallways and passed by Ms. Sufue, successfully entering the class in time. He was glad that he managed to catch the first period, but then he remembered that he had two more important things to worry about. Lunchtime came, and he made his first move. Perhaps his last, too, but he digresses.

"Chie." Yosuke called from his seat.

"What do you want" Chie turned to face Yosuke with a nigh annoyed expression. She didn't want to deal with Yosuke today. At least not now. She wasn't ready to talk with him yet. Just looking at his face confused her beyond belief, she just didn't know what to say to him.

"Are you free this afternoon? I... really have to talk to you." Yosuke asked while looking in her eyes. He knew for a fact that this annoyance was just a facade, yet he couldn't tell what was behind it. But before trying to figure her out, he had something that he had to get off his chest.

"Huh? I, uh..." Chie started She thought about declining, but this could be her chance to finally make up her mind about him. "Okay. Where do you want to meet?"

"At the riverbed, after school. Is that okay?" Yosuke asked.

"Sure. After school, then."

"Yeah." There were some seconds of awkward silence, as if one was waiting for the other to say something. Eventually, Yosuke spoke.

"Okay, now I have to talk to Yu. Don't forget, Chie."

"I won't. Hey, Yosuke..." Chie started but never finished, as Yosuke ran through the door. Yu brought lunch today, and since he wasn't in class now, Yosuke had an idea where he might be.

He opened the door to the roof, to find Yu eating alone.

"Yu, are you free this evening?" Yosuke asked.

"Huh?" Yu looked up from his bento with a mildly surprised face. It isn't very likely for him to be asked out at night.

"You're... alone at your house, right? Can you meet me at the riverbed tonight?" I have something really important to ask of you." Yosuke basically pleaded. He tried to choose his words well, so that he didn't stick salt in Yu's wounds.

Yu thought for a while. What could Yosuke possibly want to go about? Didn't they come to terms with everything already? Yu then shrugged off the thought. There's no use pondering if the answer was right in front of his face.

"Sure. What time exactly?" Yu responded curtly with another question. He had too much on his mind to waste time choosing his words.

"Uh... Eight in the evening. That okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be there." Yu said. He was still troubled by what Igor said yesterday, but he owed Yosuke a chance to talk. He could sort out the rest later. The bell rang, and Yosuke and Yu descended the stairs silently and got to class.

Soon, classes were over, and Yosuke took his first step. He walked silently with Chie towards the floodplain. Chie sat on the bench while Yosuke remained on his feet.

"So, what's it you wanna talk about, Yosuke?"

"I, uh..." Yosuke didn't know where to begin. He pinched his forehead, but eventually he continued. "Chie, do you remember what happened at the hospital?" He asked, but he knew the answer to be obvious. "Of course you do. Umm, I wanted to tell you something." Now was the hard part. "What we did there... was not the right thing." Chie raised an eyebrow. The half scowl she wore was slowly giving way to a mildly interested face.

"What do you mean?"

"We... shouldn't have killed Namatame." Chie had previously braced herself for that remark, though as the sentence hit her ears, she was still caught off guard. Yosuke continued.

"Me and Yu discovered that it wasn't the right thing to do not tat long ago. We still don't know why, but we're working towards the answer. I thought you deserved to know as much, cause you were always a good friend to me. If you don't want to involve yourself with this, I won't force you to fight by our side." Chie was still trying to absorb all of the information when Yosuke spoke again.

"I also wanted to say that I'm sorry. It was me who made the wrong decision. I betrayed you all when I let my stupid anger take over when I needed to think. I'm as much as murderer as we thought that Namatame was. You were a friend that I didn't want to lose, but you deserve the truth, so if you wanna hate me, beat me, kill me or something, I won't fight back. I don't deserve to be forgiven." Yosuke looked down, as if he was trying to hide his non existent tears. But it's not because he was faking. He just didn't find the tears to cry. Again. Right now, he just felt like a waste of space.

Chie looked at Yosuke with no expression on her face whatsoever. While he wasn't looking directly at her, she knew that he was bracing himself for whatever reaction she was to express. She herself wasn't sure what to do. She could hate him for being the jerk he always was, she could beat him for turning against the team, she could kill him for making the wrong decision and becoming a murderer. She eventually got up and...

"I forgive you, Yosuke." Chie got closer to Yosuke and wrapped her arms around him. An embrace that Yosuke didn't find the strength to return. He just kept his head lowered, and silently, a single tear rolled down his left cheek. Not a cry, not a sob. Just a tear. Of joy, of self pity, of regret, perhaps. He himself didn't know that he still had tear left in his heart. After some long seconds, Chie pulled away from the hug.

"You, too, are a friend that I don't want to lose. We all make mistakes sometimes."

"But I killed someone that didn't deserve to die... That's not some 'mistake' that can be easily forgiven."

"I know. But just because it isn't easy, doesn't mean that it's impossible."

Silence

"... Chie... Why?"Yosuke finally looked straight in her eyes, not bothering to wipe the tear from his cheek. He still couldn't read Chie's eyes. Not because they were empty, or because she was hiding something. It was almost as if her feeling were written on a language that he couldn't understand.

"Because I..." Chie started, but time seemed to stop as a million questions passed through her mind, but all of them, in the end, met the same answer.

Not now.

"Because I can't bring myself to hate you. You'll always be my friend." She finished, looking straight at his brown eyes.

"..." Yosuke still couldn't fully believe his ears. Maybe Chie killed him and he was experiencing his last dream. But then, the second tear trailed down his cheek, slowly washing away any doubts that he still had. He still couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he was happy enough that he was having such dream, if that was the case.

"... Thanks, Chie." Was all he could muster the will to say.

An awkward silence followed. One was lost on the others thoughts, until they realized that they have been staring at each other for quite a while. After fidgeting a bit, Chie broke the silence.

"So, ummm... You wanna train? There's a while that haven't sparred with anyone, so..."

She was blushing, if only slightly. Yosuke found himself lost on the faint red of her cheeks. She really was cu-

Wait. Spar? That suddenly reminded Yosuke of something. Something very important, at that. He finally wiped the tears off his face and his expression brightened.

"Oh, sure." Yosuke answered. After readying themselves, they sparred for a while before they decided to grab something to eat. Chie eventually said goodbye, and left to her house. Yosuke, however, went back to the riverbed. He still had business there, but seeing as it was only now starting to get dark, Yosuke took the time to put on his ear-buds and rest. He practiced, he ate, he was psyched...

He was ready.

**-Dojima Residence-**

Yu was trying to take in the bombshell that was dropped on him yesterday. He was called to the Velvet Room, where Igor told him that he reversed all of his social links, save for the Magician. Igor also explained that if he lost this last link, he would become Fallen. Louis did say that if you become Fallen 'your soul will be forever lost in the Void', but Yu still didn't fully get it. He knew why he reversed all his social links. It was because he betrayed everyone by making the wrong choice, not doing justice to the faith, the trust that people had in him. He was a fool, a traitor, and nothing more. He didn't even know if he should be glad that he didn't become Fallen. He felt as if he didn't deserve the power that his friends gave him. This thought kept recurring on Yu's mind, until he looked at the clock. It was almost time to go. He threw on his casual clothes and headed towards the riverbed.

**-Samegawa Floodplains-**

"_I, was told, to stay away/ Those two words I can't obey/ Pat the price for Your Betrayal/ Your Betrayal..." _Yosuke was listening to music while sitting on the bench, waiting for Yu to show up.

He was actually singing, since there was not one around him. Eventually, he saw Yu descending the stairs. He heard the last bit of Yosuke's singing, and the words hit a little too close to home for him. _Your Betrayal_, huh? Fate was hell bent on sticking salt on his wounds, as of late. But before wallowing in the pits of sadness again, he had stuff to do. He approached Yosuke.

"Yo." Yosuke greeted.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Yu asked, straight to the point.

"Umm, you see, there's something I wanted to get off my chest."

Great. More drama. "What is it?" Yu asked again.

"Yu... how should I put this... you know, at first, back when I got my power, I thought that we were gonna be heroes. You know, you saw it through my shadow. But as the time passed, your abilities surpassed those of everyone else, you became the hero. I felt a bit bad because the spotlight wasn't on 'us', but only on 'you'. Agh, what am I saying? I was jealous. Simple. I thought you were better at everything: people liked you, everything was going better for you. And we were both transfer students, too, but instead of getting endless friends, girls and money like you, I ended up becoming the lame class clown, and the 'Junes Kid'. I called you here to see where's this difference that sets us so far apart."

"Huh?" Yu was a bit taken aback. Did Yosuke really think that Yu was all that? Also, how was he still Yu's friend if he had this much on his mind? Yu shrugged the thoughts. Again, there was no use pondering if the answers were right in front of his face. "How?" Yu asked.

"I want you to fight me!" Yosuke suddenly blurted out. "I want to see what's the difference between us. Without our personae, we're just normal people, right? So I wanted to see how we fare against each other. Will you fight me, Yu?"

Yu thought for a while. Yosuke had a determined look on his face.

"What are the conditions?" Yu asked.

"We fight until one of us drops."

Yu clenched his fist. He wasn't sure if he could win against Yosuke, but he got the feeling that this was not a battle where winning or losing would matter. He looked down, as if to ask his fist if he was ready. It would be a fight to make them equal. Yu clenched his fist tighter until it became white from the pressure.

"Yosuke..."

"What?"

Yu assumed a defensive stance, both hands on a high guard. He was ready.

"... Don't hold back" Yu said, not even a hint of faltering in his voice. Speaking like that brought back memories of when he was a leader, but he put the thought aside. He had to focus on the battle at hand.

"... Alright" Yosuke actually put on his earphones (he left his headphones home) just as 'Points of Authority' began playing. Yosuke readied himself on a more aggressive stance. His guard was not as high, and he was hopping slightly as if to keep his rhythm.

"Ready?" Yosuke asked.

"Come at me already" Yu nearly shouted.

Yosuke gritted his teeth and charged at Yu. He threw a right, but Yu dodged and hit a left on Yosuke's ribs. He was about to follow up, but Yosuke quickly recovered and attempted a high roundhouse at Yu's face, who hastily resorted to swaying back, as the wind from the kick blew on his face. He then took a step back, as if to catch a second's break. That was fast. Too fast, Yu might add, and Yosuke pulled from nowhere. He had to look out for Yosuke's legs if there was more where that came from.

Yosuke charged again and tried a thrust kick aimed for Yu's stomach, but Yu side stepped and used his long reach to deliver a right straight to Yosuke's face. Yu stepped in and followed with a hook, then then a front kick to Yosuke's chest. Yosuke skidded back a bit, but he would not fall. Yu gritted his teeth and charged again.

"Grr!" Yu tried a low swipe to knock Yosuke down, but Yosuke blocked it with his knee, and without letting his foot touch the ground he delivered a kick to Yu's gut. Seeing the opening, Yosuke attempted his own low swipe, making Yu drop to one knee and then raised his foot to make an ax kick. Yu barely managed to side step the kick, and then slammed his knee on Yosuke's side. That managed to unwind Yosuke, so Yu followed up with a strong hay-maker at Yosuke's jaw, finally knocking him down.

Yu just stared and looked unimpressed as Yosuke stood back up.

"I'm not done!" Yosuke wiped the blood the corner of his mouth and gritted his teeth.

Yu was the one to charge now, not giving Yosuke any time to breath. Yosuke was ready and feinted a low kick, making Yu flinch and then he did a thrust kick at Yu's face. Yu staggered back, and Yosuke found the opportunity to deliver a right at Yu's face, then a left at his gut, and he was about to finish with a wild right right but Yu ducked and came back with a left upper at Yosuke's chin. Yosuke faltered back, and Yu charged again, his right fist ready to end the battle, but Yosuke wasn't having that. He took the little time he had to aim at Yu's jaw and then...

"Ugh!" Yu yelled as Yosuke's right hit his jaw.

"Aah!" Yosuke cried as Yu's right connected with his chin.

Both punches connected, but neither of them was about to give away. They started trading blows at close range. While Yosuke was having a hard time holding Yu's strength, Yu was having trouble finding an opportunity to actually attack. Yosuke managed to somehow keep his cool, and decided that it would be a better idea to dodge Yu's punches. And so he did, swiftly weaving, bobbing even swaying out of the way of Yu's brutal punches, stepping back ever so slightly until Yu was where he wanted. He ducked under a left hook, granting him the opening to throw a front kick at Yu's chin, and time seemed to slow a bit as Yosuke kicked the bench to gain momentum for a vicious flying roundhouse. The kick cleanly connected with Yu's face, successfully knocking him down.

Yosuke's face didn't show surprise as he saw Yu getting up.

"Looks like your training sessions with Chie paid off." Yu got up and dusted off his shirt, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his mouth.

"But you're still going down!" Yu darted towards Yosuke, but he kept his distance and attempted a round kick at Yosuke's ribs, which Yosuke blocked, then Yu threw a straight which Yosuke side stepped and used the opening to deliver that fast high roundhouse again.

Perfect.

Yu caught Yosuke's leg, swiped him off his feet, and mustered all his strength to bring his right fist down. Yosuke was quick to move his head to the side, avoiding what would likely end the fight. Yu brought his fist down again and again, visibly becoming aggravated by Yosuke's dodges, until Yosuke decided to counter the fourth punch by kicking Yu's face with his free leg. He used the opening to roll back... and look at the small craters on the ground made by Yu's punches. Was Yu for real? He looked at Yu, and he was panting, beads of sweat rolling down down his forehead. Suddenly, Yu started grinning like a mad man. It was like he was lost on a blood-lust. He was oblivious to the things around him, he could only see Yosuke in front of him. He couldn't lose this. Pride started to take over his mind and fueled his rage. He had nothing but his pride to lose.

Yu charged as Yosuke stood his ground. Yu put his whole weight into a hay-maker, which Yosuke hastily dodged, but Yu wasn't about to stop, and launched a knee at Yosuke's gut, which made him double over. Yu followed up with a merciless punt to Yosuke's forehead, sending him to the ground. Yu casually walked towards Yosuke, mounted on him, and then proceed to unleash a vicious barrage.

Yosuke was having trouble blocking Yu's fists of fury. One punch managed to open a scar on his forehead, and another nearly broke his nose. What's gotten into him? Yosuke finally pulled his act together and blocked one last punch, before using his heel to kick Yu away from him. He rolled back and stood back up.

Yu charged again and delivered a right, but Yosuke caught his fist. Yosuke then delivered his own right, though Yu caught his fist. Neither of them found an an option other than a headbutt. Both skulls collided, but neither was giving way.

"What's gotten into you?" Yosuke nearly shouted. No response, but the grin on Yu's face was still present.

"Answer me!" Yosuke yelled, but there was still no response. This was gonna hurt in the morning, but Yosuke pulled his head back again and smashed his forehead against Yu's nose. Blood started trickling down his nostrils. Yosuke then threw a hard at Yu's face, but the silverette's sick grin would not come off. Then Yosuke threw a left to Yu's cheek, blood came from the newly open scar, but Yu... chuckled!?

"Snap out of this!" Yosuke lost cool and delivered a spinning heel kick. Never once did he manage to make it so perfect. His heel connected cleanly with Yu's temple.

Yu was about to pass out, though why, he didn't remember. I think... he was fighting Yosuke. Yeah, that's it. But how did Yosuke of all people leave him in such a bad state. Oh. It happened again, didn't it? That strange rage that would always drive him to act like a cornered wild beast. This shouldn't be happening. Sure, he was fighting Yosuke, but he wasn't Yu's enemy. That only happened when he was fighting to protect... someone... Oh! So that's what it means to be Fallen! Yu had to get his act together. He still had something to show Yosuke.

Yu nearly fell limp on the floor. He was still standing, but it looked like his whole body was down, and just his legs were standing up. Then suddenly, he jerked back to life. And by 'jerked back to life', I mean 'cracked his knuckle at Yosuke's face without a second's warning'. Yosuke faltered back, but he managed to get a glimpse of Yu's face, The sick grin was gone, in its place, a determined expression was visible on Yu's features. Yu darted forward and delivered a strong barrage, as if ordering Yosuke to block his punches. Yosuke tried to block the assault with one hand, but it was doing no good. Yu then hit a hard right on Yosuke's stomach, making Yosuke double over, then he put his whole soul on a chopping left.

Yosuke was left with no choice but to use both his arms on a cross block in front of his face. The punch was blocked, but Yu had no intention of pulling his fist away. It was like they were locking blades. Now, Yu could use his free limbs to do whatever he pleased, but he had to prove something. Yosuke's feet were giving way, and his knees were wobbling slightly. Yu then did the last push on his left, completely throwing off Yosuke's guard through sheer might, then he crouched slightly, only to spring up with a massive uppercut. It landed perfectly on Yosuke's chin, effectively sending him flying, then thumping his back on the ground. Yu looked at Yosuke and sure enough, he wasn't trying to get up. It was over. Yu wiped the blood from his nostrils, then walked towards Yosuke. He squatted down and gave a light jab at Yosuke's face.

"Yosuke? You there?" Yu called.

"Ugh... damn... I yield. Hey, how did you... shake off my guard... like that...? That was... ridiculous..." Yosuke asked through his panting.

"Yosuke, do you know why my fist are heavy?" Yu asked.

"...Why?" Yosuke still didn't try to get up.

"Because I'm a leader. Whenever I punch, kick, slash, beat something, it's not just my strength. There are the emotions of everyone that I fight to protect behind each strike. Yours included. That's where I get my strength from."

"Oh. I see." Yosuke sighed. "Now I get the difference. I lived only by, and for myself. Sure, this year, when I got this power, that changed. Slightly, but changed. For the first time, I fought to protect someone. But still, my will doesn't compare to yours. I guess that's why your the 'wild card'."

"Yeah, that's why I'm a wild card. But if we fight to protect, your will doubles, and you gain powers that you yourself wouldn't believe. Yosuke..."

"... What?"

"Who do you fight for?"

"I first fought for... don't laugh, man. For Chie." As Yosuke said that, Yu laid beside him with his back down. "Cause she was the only one who didn't treat me as a class clown. She really was my friend. After you came, she distanced herself, sure, but I still wanted to protect her. Then more people came, and I thought that I was fighting for the city, but deep down, I was fighting only for myself. If it wasn't for my power, I would've been a nobody, so I'd like to think that I fought to keep everyone safe, cause everyone depended on me. Heh. What an idiot."

"I understand. At first, I fought only for myself, too. There was a time that I even used my friends just to gain power. When Nanako died, when we killed Namatame, when Naoto killed herself..." pause "And we found out that we were in the wrong track, I thought I was the biggest waste of space ever. If I couldn't use the power given to me by my friends to the right thing, what was I living for? Then I realized that even if I made mistakes, I still have people to protect. Cause that's the Wild Card's' purpose, and that's why it strengthens through bonds: it's a power by the people, and for the people."

"So we really aren't that far apart. Heh. Anyway, why did you start grinning all of a sudden? It weirded me out beyond belief."

"You see? I sometimes have trouble controlling my rage." Yu started. "Especially when there's a life on the line. I go insane at times like that. That's how I manage to pull some crazy stuff out. Though, I feel that it wasn't really me who was doing that stuff. Maybe, just maybe, that's what being Fallen is like."

"What?" Yosuke asked.

"It gives me the will to overcome any hardship, but when it doesn't have anyone to protect, it turns against itself, slowly destroying the ego. It's... hard to explain."

"Don't worry, man. You don't have to explain. You showed me already." Yosuke dug through his pocket. "You can have this." Yosuke handed Yu some bandages. "That should take care of the bleeding on your face" Yosuke sighed. "The sky's so high up. When I was a kid, I used to think that the stars were people that went to the sky. Are they watching over us now?"

"I'm sure they are."

"In that case:" He stood up and looked to the stars. "Do you all see that? From now on, I'll fight to protect what's dear to me to the bitter end! Cause that's what I live for!" Yosuke yelled. Suddenly, something strange started taking over his mind.

Yosuke was surrounded by a blue fire, and his persona, Jiraya, appeared above his head. Then, this blue fire engulfed both Yosuke and his persona, but it didn't burn. It was cold, actually. When the fire died down, his persona was completely different. It wore a blue jumpsuit, with red gloves and boots, on his face there was a mask that had some kind of blade circling around it, its hair was red, and looked like a fire tornado. Lastly, it had a saw blade spinning around it. Yosuke recognized it as the slayer of Orochi.

"So, this is my true power?" Yosuke helped Yu to his feet. "Thanks for showing me, partner"

Yu smirked. "Anytime." He said as he held out his hand for a fist bump, which Yosuke returned.

**CRASH!**

**Thou art I... And I am thou...**

**Thou hast established a genuine bond...**

**is genuine bonds... shall be your eyes to see the truth.**

**We bestow upon thee the ability to create Vayu, the ultimate form of the Magician arcana...**

Time returned to its normal flow as Yu spoke again.

"So, you ready to take out the prince of darkness?"

"Pffft. We'll wipe the floor with his face... After I sleep these bruises away. You sure can pack some brutal punches, man."

"Your kicks were also hard to deal with. That ninja roundhouse you did had me seeing stars for a second."

So they went to their houses, talking about the fight that they just had. Eventually they parted ways to their houses. Yu stopped in front of his house and looked up.

"The prince of darkness, huh?"

"Bring it on!"

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**There you have it. Please, please please, leave your opinion, especially because there was a fight. Your opinion is like a platinum achievement to me. So, see you guys next chapter. **

**Actually, not yet. I'd like to thank Hoshiro Kamui217 and Nightly presence for the help. Now, I can say ja ne to ya'll.**


	7. Twist of Fate: Star

**Hello guys, and welcome to another chapter. I've been rather slow lately. Sorry about that. Anyway, reviews.**

**Thedarknesswithin96: Thanks again. Yeah. Spelling mistakes are everywhere. I always proof-read, yet they always show up. Yes, I really like Linkin Park, but they're not my favorite band.**

**Hoshiro Kamui: I had to put a lot of thought in the fight, cause, you know, fights are not my forte. I'm glad you liked it, though. Yup, Bullet For My Valentine indeed.**

**NightlyPresence: I wouldn't call it epic. Thanks. Those moments are the only thing that I don't fail horribly at. Well, not that horribly, anyway.**

**I don't own persona, smt, or anything. I wish I owned a ps4, though, but here, it will cost 4000 bucks. Anyway, let's get this started.**

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/I_dreamed I was missing/ You were so scared/ But no one would listen/ Cause no one else cared/ After my dreaming/ I woke with this fear/ What am I leaving?/ When I'm done here?_

"Where am I?"

Teddie woke up in the middle of... somewhere. Somewhere filled with with the thickest fog, though it was not the TV world. He was standing on a road with nothing else in sight. This place felt strange, yet somewhat familiar.

"How did I get here? Oh, that's right..." Teddie lowered his head. Just now he noticed that he wasn't wearing his bear costume, but that didn't matter right now. What truly mattered was...

"Nana-chan..."

Teddie remembered everything now. He was at the hospital, crying upon the loss of the one that he vowed to protect. Maybe that's why he was here: he didn't have a purpose in the human world anymore. He started to walk forward, without any real destination whatsoever, his blue eyes cast down all the way, devoid of any hope. Hm. Hope. Sensei once told him that his arcana was The Star, and that meant hope. Funny. If he failed to serve as Nana-chan's hope, what was he living for? For a moment, he wished to die, but what if he went to the same place as Nanako? He couldn't face her. She probably hated him right now, and would probably hate him forever, too. Tears started rolling down Teddie's cheeks.

He was still absently walking forward. He didn't know why, but he was. He looked around: the fog was pure white, while the fog in the TV world had a slight green tint. Strange. What was this fuzzy feeling in his chest? Why was this place so familiar? He stopped walking. A massive headache made him drop to his knees. The familiar blue fire started surrouding him, but Kintoki Douji's card was not present. Suddenly, the fire turned purple, and engulfed Teddie's whole body. Teddie felt as if his head was being split open. After the huge surge of power, the fire died down. Teddie stood up, only to be met with the sight of...

Himself.

But something was not right. The copy's aura was not as menacing as that of a Shadow. Its eyes... instead of eyes, the copy had two orbs of a clear blue crystal, which reflected Teddie's own image. It showed no expression whatsoever, and its feet weren't touching the ground.

"Greetings." The copy spoke. Teddie was still a bit dazed.

"Who are you? You're not my Shadow, are you?"

"Indeed I am not. I am neither Shadow or persona."

"What are you, then?" Teddie questioned. He thought about taking a defensive stance, but for some reason, he felt as if he didn't need to.

"I am the Mirror of the soul. I present myself to those who wander the collective unconscious in search for themselves. Deep within your soul, you claim that you do not have a reason to exist. You also have asked yourself who you really are for a long time. That is why I am here. I shall show you the answer to your questions." The Mirror's eyes started emitting a warm glow. "Look into my eyes, and witness the truth of your existence."

Teddie looked into the blue crystal balls. He started walking closer, as if he was being drawn to the glow emmitted by the Mirror's eyes. As he got closer, Teddie's eyes flashed a different color. Each time shifting to a different tone, until he could get the clearest view of his own eyes. Teddie's jaw dropped as realization dawned upon him.

He saw his irises glowing a solid yellow. That only meant one thing.

"This is the truth Teddie. You are, were, and will always be a Shadow. But you had an odd potential. You had the power to develop an ego, so that you could interact with humans. You should also recall that this is not the first time that we met."

Teddie still couldn't believe it. But now that he thinks about it, this shouldn't be so surprising. I mean, he lived in the TV world from the beginning. A beginning that he doesn't even remember. Wait... I think he remembers now. He heard a voice. That voice asked him something that he didn't understand, yet he could comprehend perfectly. He just answere 'yes', then a bright light engulfed everything, then he found himself as the bear costume.

"This is your true nature. To deny it, is to deny yourself. Do you acknowledge this fact?" The Mirror asked.

Teddie looked up at the Mirror again. The tears had stopped coming from his eyes.

"Yeah, I know that. All this time, I've been just a Shadow. No wonder I couldn't fulfill my purpose in the human world: I didn't belong there... What do I do now?"

"Look within yourself, and the answer will heed your call." As the Mirror said that, the noise of a car grinding to a halt was heard nearby.

Teddie sat on the ground and closed his eyes. He saw himself fighting. Against what, he wasn't sure. He was powerful and had a strong resolve. It was like he was fighting to protect something that he didn't knowwhat was. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were glowing yellow.

Teddie understood it now.

"The choice is yours to make. Though I warn you: there will be no turning back. Either you keep your ego, and wander here aimlessly until you find another answer, or you give it away, and go back to being a Shadow, fighting to protect your realm. Your are a very special being: you are your own Shadow, thus, you have the right to make this choice."

Teddie thought hard about what the mirror said. It's true that he didn't have a purpose. He couldn't keep his only promise, after all. Maybe there wasn't another answer. He would stay here forever if he was to try and find another way. And even if he could get out, what would Sensei and the others say? He failed. He himself was a failure. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't want his ego anymore. Then, he wouldn't have to live with the pain of being who he is. He wouldn't have to worry about anything . He would be free. But he would most likely lose all the memories of his beloved friends. All the time they spent together would vanish. But they were preobably wishing that they never met Teddie in the first place, anyway.

"Have you made your decision?"

Teddie nodded. Tears started flowing from his eyes again. This... is for the best of everyone.

"Yeah." He sniffed, and looked to one side. "But can I do something first?" He wiped his tears, but they wouldn't stop coming.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you." Teddie stood up and walked towards the parked car that stopped there a while ago. It was a huge, blacj limousine, and the windows were dark blue. He knew what this car was, but he wasn't sure how he knew it. He simply touched the doorknob, and the world turned blue. There was no one there, but suddenly, a bright light filled the whole room, and when it died down, he found none other than Sensei sat on the chair across him.

"Huh? Teddie, is that you? We were so worried about you! Where've you been? And why are you here?" Sensei asked with a relieved and shocked tone.

"I'm okay, now. I just discovered what I truly am. I was just a Shadow from the beginning." Teddie wiped more teas. Yu looked at Teddie with a bit of surprise. "So, I'm going back to the other side. I couldn't keep my promise, so it's for the best."

"But... Teddie, I don't care that you're a Shadow. You can stay with us. Come on, let's go home. Everybody's waiting."

"You've always been so kind, Sensei. I doubt the others would still want me around. So, I came here to say goodbye. And Sensei... when you meet Nana-chan in heaven... tell her I'm sorry."

Yu bit his bottom lip, and the corner of his eyes began to sting a bit. "But, Teddie..."

"Now I've got a place to stay. A place that I shouldn't have left in the first place. So, Sensei... Thank you." Teddie sobbed once. Only now he noticed that there was a card resting on the side of his chair. It was empty, but now it was stained with one of his tears. "And goodbye." Teddie started vanishing, only to leave Yu screaming in despair.

"Teddie! No, you can still stay with us! Nobody wants you to leave! Teddie! TEDDIE!" Yu screamed, but none of his pleads were enough to make Teddie stay.

Teddie was back outside the car. He silently walked back towards the Mirror.

"... I'm ready now."

"I will ask you one more time: are you sure? There will be no turning back. You will deny your human soul, and it will remain like this forever. Your memories will disappear, and you will go back to being a normal Shadow. Is this the answer for your life, Teddie?"

"... Yes" Teddie said. The last tear trailed down his face.

Silence

"... Very well." The Mirror joined his hands in front of his face, and Teddie felt something strange. The Mirror started separating his hands, and two separated butterfly wings appeared, both in front of Teddie's eyes. They flew towards each other, and united themselves to form a strange, yet beautiful blue butterfly. Teddie felt a sudden peace, like he was in harmony with everything around him. But that didn't last long, as the Mirror clapped his hands, and the butterfly lost its warm glow, only to fall dead on the ground.

"Soon, you will walk the new path that you chose. Your soul will not be part of the collective unconscious anymore. I bid you farewell, for we will not meet again." The Mirror stared blakly at Teddie as a wave of sadness and sorrow flowed through its eyes. Teddie had a very kind soul, even though he was a Shadow. He had a strong will, and his aura was clearer than that of many a human. But, he made his choice. He saw Teddie's eyes slowly turn yellow. Teddie now had sharp fangs, and brandished deadly claws. He was no longer the Teddie that learnt how to be liked by humans.

The world around the Shadow began to shift and warp, and he found himself on a road, surrounded by rumbles of a broken city, and under a black and red sky. He wandered aorund aimlessly, but suddenly, he heard voices in the distance.

"Teddie!" The boy with silver hair spoke loudly.

"Teddie, is that you? We've been looking everywhere for you!" The girl in green said.

"Come on, let's go home, you idiot!" Said the boy with brown hair.

So those are the ones who brave the hollow forest, to kill those of his kind. Something snapped inside him. He could only thik about one thing.

KILL

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**There, done. That's what I've been willing to do since the first twist of fate. I don't think many people would expect that. I'll probably do another one after a while. So, leave your opinion, cause it really matters (especially in this chapter, cause I had to come up with a lot of stuff), I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See you guys later. **


	8. Full House

**Hello, guys. I'm sorry for the delay again. There have been some suff going on, and my creativity doesn't seem to be working on it's best gear lately. Anyway, now that I updated this chapter, reviews.**

**wordsworhty: Thanks. I won't be doing that, cause, you know, that's not my style. Things will get explained much later, but it should be a very... how should I put it... unguessable reason. Don't worry, it'll make sense. It's probably part of the reason why there won't be a law ending, cause it's kind of impossible. If I said that this story will end good or badly, I'd be pretty much spoiling it. **

**titan. : What's with the name? thanks for the review, though. Yes, evil Teddie.**

**NighlyPresence: You wouldn't waste the chance to throw a bear pun, would you now? Thanks. Thats's pretty much my forte, but I can still improve. **

**thedarknesswithin96: Yeha, I know... spelling mistakes... well, here's the chapter.**

**Hoshiro Kamui: I will indeed keep it up. I'm glad that I managed to pass the feels across.**

**I don't own anything. On that note, let's get this stared.**

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Yu slept like a log yesterday, yet he still felt good when he woke up today. After all, he got a lot out of his chest in the day before. He still didn't get rid of all the stress, but a big part of the bad vibes were expelled from his mood. He looked down at his clenched fist. Sure, he was still a bit sore, but nothing that a quick trip to the TV world to heal the bruises and soothe the pain couldn't handle. Heh. If fists could indeed talk, then he had a real heart to heart with Yosuke. Speaking of heart, Yu needed to go to the Velvet Room to see about that Vayu persona, But that could wait until after school.

After a few looks and stares at his visible bruises, Yu managed to survive another day of school. He was about to get up and leave, until...

"Yo." Yosuke greeted.

"Yo." Yu greeted back. "You wanna go to the TV world for some healing? I kinda have something that I can do there, too. Teddie left the exit open, right?"

"Yeah. Speaking of Teddie, have you seen the little bugger around? He hasn't been home since Sunday."

"What? I thought he just went home by himself."

"Hmm. He's probably laying low somewhere since, you know... He's probably going to get fired at this rate." Yosuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, why does he have to give me so much trouble? He's always... Oh." Yosuke glanced at Yu, and saw him lowering his head. "... shit... Sorry about that. Shouldn't have brought that up."

"No... It's cool." And there went his good mood. After Yu broke out of his daze, he thought for a while. Teddie did disappear for some stupid reasons, like the time when he stole Yosuke's bike to execute his own 'up close and personal operation'. This time, though, he had quite the reason for being alone. Yu'd do the same, actually. He'll probably come back, and if he doesn't, Yu'll look for him.

"Anyway, you coming along, Yosuke?" He said, as his expression brightened a little, if only to brighten the situation. His own morale was still very much low, though he was doing an astounding job on hiding it.

"Sure, but wait just a bit."

Yosuke hurried to talk to Chie for some moments. And Chie seemed happy. Like the simple fact that she was talking to Yosuke was brightening up her day. Sure, this was something fairly normal between friends, but not at times like these. Maybe... whatever. He's just glad that someone's happy today.

They left the school building, talking about various things, including...

"So, you talked to Yukiko yet?"

"No, man. She hardly even looks at my face these days. I'm pretty sure she won't forgive me, let alone make up our relationship. Though you seem to have been getting along oddly well with Chie. So, spill it."

"Ummm, we kinda talked things over yesterday, and she said that we're still friends. I still feel like I owe the team a lot, but just seeing that she's forgiven me... kinda puts me at ease, like, I'm not sure if it makes me a bad person for saying this, but it's like just her trust makes my conscience clearer, l-like she's more, I dunno, important to me than the others, and..." Yosuke trailed off.

Yu smirked, acting like he forgot all his troubles and decided to tease Yosuke a bit.

"Hm." Yu rubbed his chin. "I see."

"Huh? See what?"

"You like Chie, don't you?" Yu pressed Yosuke against the verbal wall. "You're not that good at hiding stuff, you know? I've been watchi-"

"Yeah. It's true."

"-ng the way you... What? Well, that was quick. And unexpected, really." Yu mused aloud. He didn't really know that Yosuke liked her. He was just trying to make Yosuke a little nervous, is all.

"In fact, I love her, man." Yosuke continued. "She was by my side ever since I got here, and, aside from you, she was the one who helped me get over Saki the most. But I don't think she feels the same, man. I mean, we've been friends for so long, maybe it would be best if it just stayed that way." He said as they entered the eletronics department in Junes.

They entered through the TV, after making sure that nobody was seeing them. The same falling sensation ocurred like always. Yu landed on his feet, while Yosuke landed on his knees. They put on the glasses and continued talking.

"I don't really know what to say to you... but if you don't get this out of your mind, you may regret it for your whole life. Okay, maybe not that much, but it's still better than keeping it all to yourself, man." Yu said, having some trouble with choosing his words.

Yosuke sighed. "It's not that easy, dude. You only say that because it worked when you tried."

... Yosuke actually raised a valid point. It did work in the first time Yu tried. But that didn't mean that he didn't go through the same tension. He wasn't any Superman in that regard. "Yeah, sure, but I went through the same thing, and probably with the same chances as you. If it worked for me, then why should it be impossible for you?"

At that moment, Yosuke summoned Susano-O to cast a Diarama on himself. He felt the pain from his bruies slowly melt away. "Yeah. Maybe you're right. But that doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to work, man."

"Then will you give it a try?" Yu inquired.

"... Maybe."

"Good. I'll go over there for a bit, and I'll be right back." Yu strolled over to the corner of the entrance hall, and opened the blue door.

**-Velvet Room-**

A blinding light covered Yu's vision, just like always, only to fade and give way to the familiar sight of blue.

"Hello, my dear guest." Igor greeted.

"Hey Igor. I'd like to do some fusing today."

"Certainly. But before we get to that, I'd like you to know something."

Wow. Yu actually wanted Yu to know something. That was rare. "What is it?"

"Your bonds" Igor waved his hand, and all the 21 arcanum he had appeared before him, making a spinning wheel. "Are no longer reversed. You had reversed them yourself, when you chose to believe that you had betrayed your friends and loved ones." The wheel stopped when the Fortune and the Justice were right in front of Yu's eyes. "Although the hearts that strengthened this bond is gone, you still share an unbreakable tie with these people. Not even Death itself can deny this fact." Naoto... Nanako... Yu struggled to maintain his composure.. They were indeed people that Yu very much treasured and loved. Huh. What would he say to them if they were still alive? Yu felt a lump in his throat, so he chose to remain quiet as Igor continued. "Though, these" The reversed Priestess and Emperor appeared before Yu "Are still reversed by... normal means. You will receive no blessings from these arcanum, until you right this situation."

Figures. Of course the Priestess would be reversed. The Emperor was not that obvious, but Yu couldn't disagree. He'd to sort all of this later, but for now...

"So, fusions. How do I make Vayu?"

Igor raised an eyebrow, then his grin came back to his face. He wasn't going to question the Sparks of fate, after all.

After yens and yens worth of personae, he fused Shiva, Parvati and Rangda to create Vayu. The Breath Of Life. He was mainly a grey humanoid demon. His arms seemed to be crossed under a light green shawl that stretched a bit past his knees. He was standing on one foot, probably because his left foot had two big and seemingly deadly sharp blades: one coming from the 'toes', and another coming from the heel. His legs had black and white stripes, too. Last, but definetly not least, his head was divided by a big, vertical mouth with sharp teeth, that went from where his chin should have been, to the back of his neck.

**I am thou... Thou art I...**

**From the sea of thy soul I cometh...**

**I am Vayu, the god of the northern winds.**

The card descended slowly until it reached Yu's hand, and then disppeared.

"Damn. This one's kickass. And what's this slight... i don't know... resonance?"

Igor chuckled. "You shall find that out in due time. Now, are you in need of anything else?"

"Yes, actually. I need a healer..."

And so it went, until Yu left the Velvet Room with Ishtar, Vayu, Thor, a new Loki, now with Ziodyne and Megidola, a new and upgraded Surt, and his long time companion, Izanagi.

"Wow, that was quick. What did you do?" Yosuke asked. Apparently, he was training some kicks.

"I got some new personas. And found out that there are still some problems left for me to solve." Yu tried to swallow the lump in his throat, that was making his voice quiver a bit. "And by the way, let me test something." Yu changed his persona to Vayu, and sure enough, there was a slight reaction. Maybe it has to do with Yosuke.

"Did you feel it?" Yu asked.

"Yeah, I did. That was a bit weird. But whatver. I guess we still have some business to take care of, right?"

Huh, what? Oh right. "Yeah. We have to talk to Louis. I'll be ready this weekend." Yu stated.

"Me, too. C'mon. The door to his place is in Junes."

They left the TV and after Yosuke snuck Yu in the staff room, they entered the big, luxorious red door.

**-Fate's Gamble-**

"Oh. Greetings." Louis looked up after laying two cards on the table the cards. Apparenty, Catherine, Astaroth and Louis were playing poker. Louis had a pretty huge pile of chips himself while Catherine wasn't falling behind too much, and Astaroth looked like he was going through some hard times. Lupa was playing his guitar as always, though today the music was a bit different to the rock that he always played. It was a light, catchy Blues, quickly recognized by Yu.

"Heh. Nice arrange." He mused aloud.

"You know this song?" Yosuke asked.

"Yeah. I always hear it when I go fuse personas. But there, it actually looks like an orchestra playing. That blues fit quite well, though."

Lupa just kept playing. He eventually looked up to glance at Yu. That aura... No, it couldn't be. His mind was playing tricks on him. He shrugged and went back to what he was doing.

Yosuke looked carefully at the game being played. The cards were being shuffled by themselves, as if they had a will of their own. Eventually, the cards were deal. Catherine gave a brief look at her cards, and then began playing with her pigtail, like she didn't have a care in the world. That was probably her game face. Louis had a straight poker face, and Astaroth had an outright scowl. After everyone paid the initial bets, the first thee cards were flipped: a seven of hearts, a seven of spades, and a king of clubs. Catherine shoved all her chips towards the center of the table. Apparently she was the bluffer of the game.

"All in." She said.

Louis accepted, and covered Catherine's amount, which formed a huge pile. Astaroth actually paid the little he had. They were all in. Well, at least everyone who wasn't Louis, because he still had some chips. The last two cards flipped: a queen of clubs, and a three of diamonds.

Catherine showed her hand: a king and a queen, both of hearts. "Two pairs, kings 'n' queens." She giggled.

Louis showed his hand: a seven of diamonds and a three of clubs. "Full house: seven full of threes. Beat that, Astaroth." He let himself smirk, as Catherine let out a quite adorable pout.

Astaroth showed his hand: Two kings, diamonds and spades. "Full house: King full of sevens." He nearly grunted the words as Louis stared in a mild disbelief. Astaroth lifted the pile of chips with some kind of telekinesis and teleported back to the bar, before setting the chips on his table.

"Pleased to make business with you two." He remarked smugly.

"Tch. Mere luck!" Louis replied a bit loudly, as he snapped his fingers, making his chips disappear. "I belive I had enough of poker today."

"... Whatever..." Catherine got up from her seat, then left through the door in the back, clearly in a sour mood.

Louis followed Catherine with his eyes, until she slammed the door behind her. He then ceared his throat. "What business do you have here today?"

"We came to say that we're ready. On Sunday, we'll be here again, then we'll settle the score. Just thought that we should warn you in advance."

"That wasn't required, but, as you say, 'whatever'. So, you'l finally take on my challenge, then. You should already know the conditions, but I'll remind you, just in case: We shall do battle in a place where time has no meaning, so you shouldn't worry about dying, although, there will be consequences should your vital signs disappear, thus, you will be thrown out of the battle should that happen. This, however, is no excuse for you to hold back, or 'slack off', as I won't do so myself. It will be truly a battle to test your potential. Are you two in agreement with those rules?"

"Yes." Both Yu and Yosuke nodded.

"So Sunday it shall be, then. Do you have any other business here?"

"No, not really." Yu replied.

"Actually..." Yosuke glanced at the guitarrist. "What's Lupa's deal?"

"Oh. He's an enlightened being. He arrived here not long before I summoned you two here, though he's been watching your whole journey ever since he got here."

"And why's he always playing that guitar?" Yosuke asked again.

"I don't know. He simply left one 'day', and returned with that. Since then, playing that guitar has been his most frequent action. He also sometimes leaves without warning, but he always comes back. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him yourself, because beyond what I pointed out, your guess is as good as mine."

"Oh." Yosuke looked at Lupa. It didn't seeem like he was evil or anything, but there was somethingabout him that... I don't know... was very odd. Like, he was on a completely different plane han any other thing that he ever encountered. That was actually a pretty elaborated thought, but Yosuke chose to shrug it off.

"... Never mind. Hey, can I get another drink?"

"Well, that time was just a free trial, since it was the first time. Those drinks cost Macca, you know?"

"Macca?" Yu's interest was piqued.

"Yes. It is the currency for the ones of our kind. The chips" He materialized a blue and white chip that had the number five on it. " that we were using are actually Macca, only in an alternative form."

"So, how do we get it?"

"Aside from trading one hundred yens for one Macca here, I don't see any other means for you to get it. If you wish though, you can trade some Macca and play cards with us. It can be used for other services in this side, too, so it may be a wise choice to drop by to get some Macca for yourselves."

"Oh, okay. Maybe we'll drop by later. Aside from that, I'm done. See ya guys." Yosuke gave a brief salute before turning away towards the exit.

"Farewell, you two."

**-Junes-**

Yu and Yosuke stepped out of the Fate's Gamble, and went to grab something to eat. Yu still couldnt shake off the feeling he had whenever he switched to Vayu while close to Yosuke. Eventually, they parted ways to their houses.

**-Dojima Residence-**

Yu decided to go to bed early today, to get a rest from the mental strain that he was suffering from, due to all the faking and repressing he had to do today. As he fell asleep, he felt his conscience being called upon.

**-Velvet Room-**

"Huh? Teddie is that you? Goddamit, we were so worried about you! Where have you been? And why the hell are you here?" Yu asked a barrage of questions.

"I'm okay, now. I discovered what I truly am. I was just a Shadow from the beginning." Teddie wiped some tears. Yu looked at Teddie with a bit of surprise, but was it really that surprising? Teddie continued. "So, I'm going back to the other side... forever. I couldn't keep my promise anyway, so it's for the best." His voice was quivering all the way.

No. No, nonono. Not another one! Yu bit his bottom lip as he tried to choose his words to the best of his abilities, which were being unknowingly clouded by his emotions. The corner of his eyes began to sting a bit. " But, Teddie, I don't care that you're a Shadow. You can stay with us. Come on. let's go home. Everybody's waiting."

"You've always been so kind, Sensei. I doubt the others would still want me around." Teddie began.

FUCK! Yu used singular first person in that sentence! Think of something to fix that, quick! The despair was visible in Yu's eyes, now. Teddie continued "So I came here to say goodbye. And, Sensei... when you meet Nana-chan in Heaven..." Teddie sniffed. There was a slight pause before he continued. "Tell her I'm sorry." Teddie couldn't fight back the tears, and his voice was fully distorted by the sorrow and sadness of his crying.

Neither could Yu win the fight against his feelings, as he himself shed some tears. "But... Teddie..." As much as he called, no words came. He didn't have an argument to convince Teddie right now. Or to convince himself that Teddie was not going away.

"Now I got a place to stay. A place I shouldn't have left in the first place. So, Sensei... Thank you." Teddie sobbed once. There was a card resting by the arm of Teddie's couch, which was now stained with his tears. "And goodbye."

**CRASH!**

**Thou art I... And I am thou... **

Teddie's image started to fade away, only to leave Yu screaming in despair.

**Thou hast estabilished a genuine bond...**

"Teddie! No!" Yu shouted, but Teddie ust lowered his head and closed his eyes, as if to brush off Yu's voice.

**These ganuine bonds... shall be your eyes to see the truth.**

"You can stay with us! Nobody wants you to leave!" Although loud, the words were not reaching Teddie's ears. It was a if his senses were somewhere else already, far from the reach of Yu's desperate pleadings.

**We bestow upon thee the ability to create Pollux, the ultimate form of the Star Arcana...**

Teddie! TEDDIE!" Yu screamed from the top of his lungs, though it was as if he had no voice whatsoever, as Teddie's image completely faded away from his view, leaving Yu alone in the Velvet Room. His silent tears turned into a full cry, as he felt his consciousness fading.

* * *

**There, done. Some things I'd like to point out: Loki is not the ultimate Fool persona in this fic. Yu got him way before the link was completed. This will be explained when I get to that.**

**Also, I will insert some new personae, although the one that will have any plot weight will be Vayu. Anyway, Here's his stats:**

**Vayu, base lvl 79, Magician Arcana**

**Resistances: Drain wind, resist Electricity and Physical, Null Light and Darkness, weak against Fire.**

**Skills: Pantha Rhei, Magarudyne, Ziodyne, Brave Blade, Matarukaja, Wind boost, Wind amp, Evade Fire. Learns: Heat Riser, Debilitate, Hell Thrust, Drain Fire (through special conditions), ? ? (? ?).**

**Excells in agility, strength and magic, lacks endurance and luck. Highly offensively balanced.**

**Also, you may be missing Helel up there. I won't say anymore, though it may be a bit obvious what I'm going to do with him. Well, that's pretty much it. Well, Review, leave your opinion, tell me if you liked it, and please, tell me what you think of the ideas that I brought to the plot. It's kinda hard to come up with this much stuff, and make it all seem right. See you guys next chapter.**


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